Chimerstry
Chimerstry is the trademark Discipline of the Ravnos that conjures illusions into existence. Such phantom images are as real as the Cainite's skill allows, and will even fool technological sensors. Overview While its origins are lost in myths and half-truths, it is assumed to have been developed by the Ravnos Antediluvian, and over the centuries has greatly contributed to the perception of Ravnos as tricksters and con artists. Because Chimerstry works best when targets do not realize they are being deceived by illusions, most practitioners keep their knowledge of it a secret. Even then, it is not always easy to dismiss the phantoms created by this Discipline even when one knows them to be false. Vampires with high levels of Auspex may see through the effects of Chimerstry. As an added note, Chimerstry works against the Fae as if it were real. Because of this, the Ravnos are often feared by the Fae who are aware of this effect, since it essentially means the Ravnos can more or less do anything it wants to the Fae. It is, however, unspecified how this effect works with the power Horrid Reality, whether the world it traps the Fae in is an illusion or just as real as any other Chimerstry creation is to a Fae. The Fae believe that this is the result of a pact between the Wanderer and the early Unseelie Court from before the Sundering, which allowed him and his brood to call extensions of the Dreaming into the Autumn World. In order to properly utilize Chimerstry, the vampire has to experience the illusion he creates himself, deceiving even himself for an instant about the substance of his creation (which can lead to Rötschreck if the vampire summons the illusion of fire). Also, the vampire can only create illusions he can perceive by himself; a deaf vampire could not create auditory illusions, while a blindfolded vampire could not summon visual illusions. Chimerstry is a part of the curse on a vampire because it fools him into believing that he is able to truly creative acts, when all he does is perverting and deceiving the senses of his audience. Some advanced users become so enthralled and convinced in the reality in their illusions that they lose themselves in dreamworlds of their own making or other derangements. Official Abilities Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed. Standard Powers * ** Ignis Fatuus: Create a motionless illusion that affects one of the five senses * ** Fata Morgana/Dweomer: Create a motionless illusion that can affect any of the five senses * ** Apparition: Add motion to an illusion created by Ignis Fatuus or Fata Morgana * ** Permanency: Make an illusion created by Chimerstry last until dismissed * ** Horrid Reality: Places the mind of the victim in an illusionary world of the vampire's creation Advanced Powers * ** Army of Apparitions: Create multiple moving illusions ** False Resonance: Disguise one's thoughts and aura from other attempts to read them ** Fata Amria: Curse a target with a recurring illusion that interferes with them ** Fatuus Mastery: No longer spend Willpower or blood points for the first three levels of Chimerstry, require less concentration to maintain illusions ** Horrid Blade of the Demons: Create a dangerous weapon out of nothing ** Subtle Spy: Impart a piece of the vampire's consciousness into a illusion which can be absorbed later to learn all the illusion witnessed ** Shared Nightmare/Mass Horror: As Horrid Reality, except it affects multiple people ** Truth's Essence: Reveal as falsehoods other uses of Chimerstry or Obfuscate * ** Aid of the Gandharvas: Make everything in a room seem luxurious and splendid ** Far Fatuus: Create illusions anywhere you can visualize ** Mirror's Visage: Create duplicates of oneself ** Suspension of Disbelief: Make an illusion seem completely real or what is real seem unbelievable * ** Fantasy World: Place a target in an illusionary world in their mind ** Occlusion: Control how a single target's or group's senses work ** Pseudo Blindness: See through almost all falsehoods ** Sensory Overload: Incapacitate a target by overstimulating their senses ** Visions from the Asura: Assault a target with constant illusions, making it nearly impossible to know what is real or not * ** Mayaparisatya: Temporarily make an illusion completely real or alter a person or object that already exists, possibly even erasing them from existence ** Sensory Deprivation: Make a victim unable to use any of their senses, locking them out from the world ** Truths of the Universe: Make a created illusion permanently real * ** Reality: Trap a victim in an alternate reality of your creation ** Plot Device References ---- Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9 Level 10 Category:Discipline (VTM) Category:Ravnos Category:Vampire: The Masquerade glossary Category:Trademark Discipline (VTM)